France exploring ‘co-operation’ in making Nagpur a smart city

* On the first day of his two-day visit to the city, French Consul General Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet and Trade Commissioner Matthieu Leffort meet VIA

* To meet city Mayor Pravin Datke and VED office-bearers, and visit MIHAN on Friday

By Kartik Lokhande 

Slowly but surely Nagpur is gaining prominence as an emerging destination for investment and is attracting more attention of other countries. On Thursday, beginning his two-day visit to the Orange City, French Consul General Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet said that France was exploring ‘co-operation’ in making Nagpur one of the smart cities as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After his interaction with Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) office-bearers, the French Consul General Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet and Trade Commissioner Matthieu Leffort interacted with media at Hotel Radisson Blu on Thursday evening and threw light on the potential sectors of investment. “We have expertise in making smart cities. France and India can join forces to propose smart solutions in urban planning, waste management, transportation, engineering, sustainable development, heritage conservation, tourism etc,” said Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet. He lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of developing smart cities in India as ‘wonderful’. 

(From left) Abhay Tikekar, Alternate President, Amicale; Jean-Raphael Peytregnet, French Consul General at Mumbai; Matthieu Leffort, Trade Commissioner; and Sunil Sengupta, President of Amicale, at the press conference held on Thursday evening.                                                                                        (Photo courtesy: Satish Raut/The Hitavada)

Referring to the recent interaction of Modi with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet said that a delegation of French architects was coming to India in November to ‘identify opportunities’ in the area of heritage conservation. Further, France had expertise in high-speed trains, which could be one of the sectors in which further co-operation between two countries could be explored. Making Nagpur a smart city also will figure in discussion of French Consul General with city Mayor Pravin Datke on Friday.

‘Impressed’ by Nagpur’s greenery, French Consul General said that France was also looking forward to promoting tourism. “Already, France is the most popular tourist destination in the world. Last year, 83 million tourists visited France. India, too, has got lot of monuments and other places worth visiting. Nagpur also has got a good tourism potential considering its central location and tiger reserves, forests around,” he said. Accor Hotels, Europe’s largest hotel group, has presence in India and it is planning to open 50 more hotels in next few years, he said. “With Nagpur’s potential, I can suggest Accor to open a hotel in Nagpur,” he added in reply to a question.

As far as industrial co-operation is concerned, Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet said that France has invested 15 billion Euros in India in various sectors. Regarding Nagpur, he suggested the industrialists and businessmen here to bond with Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry based in Mumbai, to further business-to-business interaction. “We want companies from Nagpur and India to invest in France,” he said.

On Friday, French Consul General will be interacting with potential investors in a meeting to be held in MIHAN area. Regarding Nagpur’s potential in aeronautics sector, he said, “Airbus and Dassault are already in India. Rafale aircraft will be built in India in future, but I do not know the place.”

Matthieu Leffort, who is Trade Commissioner and Head of Consumer Goods and Healthcare Department for South Asia region, said that Nagpur had a ‘huge potential’ in medical tourism sector. For the purpose, adequate infrastructure must be developed in Nagpur that had its strength in its central location. He looked forward to strengthening ties with India in agri-business, cold chain, tools, telecommunications, consumer goods, health equipment, cosmetics, aeronautics, energy, automobiles etc. “In 2014, around 300 French companies will come to India. Some will do business, some will invest, and some will have subsidiaries,” he added.

Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet said that there were many reasons for coming to Nagpur. He was ‘encouraged’ to know that many students were learning French in Nagpur. “We want to attract more and more Indian students to our educational institutions,” he added.

Abhay Tikekar, Alternate President, Amicale; Sunil Sengupta, President of Amicale; Kanchan Ingle, CEO, ETSPL; O N Mukherjee, Managing Director of ONM Consultants Private Limited also were present at the press conference. 

(11-09-14)

Comments

  1. Unknown12 June 2015 at 12:47

    Very nice and informational post. :) The "City of Oranges", Nagpur is the second most important city in Maharastra after Mumbai. For travellers, there are plenty of hotels in the city from budget to luxury ones. Radisson Blu Hotel Nagpur is a good option for luxury travellers.

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